Duque: Safety not ‘compromised’ in DOH’s decision to remove vital signs screening before COVID-19 vaccination

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday assured the public that their safety is not compromised in the Department of Health’s decision to cut the vital signs screening before COVID-19 vaccination.

“‘Di mako-compromise (ang safety) kasi tatanungin naman kung dati namang may hypertension. So aalamin natin ang history ng pasyente. 'Di naman lahat e basta lang hindi kukunan (ng vital signs),” Duque said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(Their safety won’t be compromised because our vaccination team will ask their medical history including hypertension.)

He added that those who belong to the “high-risk group” or those with medical conditions will still undergo vital signs screening to check their blood pressure.

“‘Di puwedeng lahat ng tao kailangan kukuhanan mo ng blood presssure kasi hindi na tayo matatapos sa bakunahan,” he said.

(We cannot check the blood pressure of each person who lined up for vaccination because that will delay the process.)

Duque further claimed that the Philippines is the only country that is checking the vital signs prior to the COVID-19 vaccination.

On Friday, the DOH announced that the vital signs screening will no longer be part of the COVID-19 vaccination process in a bid to speed up the rollout.

The changes in the vaccination guidelines were recommended by the Philippine Society of Hypertension and the Philippine Heart Association. This was eventually approved by the DOH advisors and immunization experts.

Furthermore, Duque said they are planning to add more personnel in the post-vaccination teams to accommodate those who just got their COVID-19 jabs.

“Kung (ang monitoring) ay 30 minutes, dalawa lang ang matatapos mo sa isang oras. Sa walong oras, 16 lang ang matatapos mo. Kaya mabagal talaga. Ang solusyon diyan is damihan ang post-vaccination team,” Duque said.

(The monitoring of the vaccinee takes 30 minutes. So in eight hours, medical personnel can only accommodate 16 patients, that is why the vaccination process is becoming slow. Our solution to that is to add more personnel in the post-vaccination team.)

So far, 2,025,038 Filipinos have received their first dose while 514,655 individuals are now fully vaccinated.

Duque said the national government is eyeing the vaccination of 120,000 persons per day in Metro Manila alone.

Once the vaccine supply stabilizes in the country, they are eyeing the inoculation of 500,000 Filipinos per day nationwide.

The Philippines targets to vaccinate some 50 to 70 million Filipinos against COVID-19 this year. —KG, GMA News